At this point, Boynton Beach City Commissioners appear to believe that they are forbidden by law to hold a meeting if Woolbright Place isn`t on the agenda, not that I blame them. They`ve been looking at the proposed development between yet-to-be completed Southwest Eighth Street and the Seaboard Systems railroad tracks for 16 months.

So far.

By last April, Woolbright Place had already been voted down so often that Tradewinds Development Corp. took legal action against the city in hopes that the courts could settle the issue.

Well, believe it or not, commissioners voted 3-2 Thursday -- in a continuation of a meeting they began Tuesday -- that the 2-week-old settlement that your more optimistic observers thought might end the drawn-out and bitter conflict was in violation of the city`s comprehensive land-use plan.

At the heart of the issue are 115 emotion-laden acres that are capable of attracting standing-room-only crowds to City Hall, of raising passions to a fever pitch, and of drawing vociferous opposition from the folks on the acres next door in Leisureville and Lake Boynton Estates.

NEW PLAYER MAKES DEBUT IN DRAMA

So it was something of a miracle when a divided commission narrowly approved a settlement in the Tradewinds court action two weeks ago to allow the construction of 450 apartments, 70 single-family homes and 199,000 square feet of office and commercial space at Woolbright Place.

As for how long it took the residents of Leisureville and Lake Boynton Estates to file an injunction aimed at nullifying that settlement, well, let`s just say that you`ll find it in the Guinness Book of World Records when the next edition comes out.

As fate would have it, the commission`s decision last Tuesday to resurrect the controversial subject for yet another go-round came less than two hours after new City Commissioner Ralph Marchese had taken office as the replacement for resigning City Commissioner Bob Ferrell, who had been the commission`s strongest supporter of the Woolbright Place development.

This allowed Marchese, in his first (but clearly not his last) vote on Woolbright Place, to make his debut as a player in the ongoing drama by supporting the motion of Vice Mayor Carl Zimmerman to seek an opinion from the courts on whether the settlement accepted by the city was handled legally.

``The composition of the commission has changed and the whole matter is pretty much up in the air,`` said Zimmerman, who happens to live in Leisureville with his highly vocal constituents.

IT`S A PREVIEW OF THE YEAR 2010

Because the commission refused to support Zimmerman`s request without a legal opinion from Kirk Friedland, the attorney who was hired expressly to represent the city in the legal action, and because Friedland was not present at the time, the meeting was carried over until Thursday, when the 3-2 vote occurred which may or may not place the city in contempt of court.

The two commissioners who had joined Ferrell in approving the settlement -- and who were on the short side of the 3-2 vote Thursday -- are displeased by this latest turn of affairs.

``To me, it`s strange that as soon as the commission changes, this comes up,`` said Commissioner Ezell Hester Jr.

To me, on the other hand, it`s not strange. Not strange at all.

I have a feeling that Woolbright Place is going to come up as soon as the commission changes -- and every time the commission changes -- for the rest of everybody`s natural born lives.